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Glass. 
Book, 



SPIRITUAL COINS 

AND 

COUNTERFEITS 



B y 

GEORGE HENRY HUBBARD 



COPYRIGIT 1904 

THE RAMS HORN COMPANY 
CHICAGO 



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SPURIOUS COIN 

John Littlejohn was stanch and strong, 
Upright and downright, scorning wrong; 
He gave good weight, and he paid his way; 
He thought for himself, and he had his say. 
Whenever a rascal strove to pass, 
Instead of silver, money of brass, 
He took his hammer, and said with a frown, 
The coin is spurious, nail it down ! 

John Littlejohn was firm and true; 
You could not cheat him in two and two; 
When foolish arguers, might and main, 
Darkened and twisted the clear and plain, 
He saw, through the mazes of their speech, 
The simple truth beyond their reach; 
And, crushing their logic, said with a frown, 
Your coin is spurious, nail it dotvn! 

When told that events might justify 

A false and crooked policy, 

That a decent hope of future good 

Might excuse departure from rectitude, 

That a lie, if white, was a small offence, 

To be forgiven by men of sense; 

Nay, nay, said John, with a sigh and frown, 

The coin is spurious, nail it down! 

When told from the pulpit or the press, 

That Heaven was a place of exclusiveness, 

That none but those could enter there 

Who knelt with the orthodox at prayer; 

And held all virtues out of their pale 

As idle works of no avail, • 

John's face grew dark, a£,rje swore with a frown. 

The coin is spurious, naii it down! 

Whenever the wnrlH our eyes would blind 
:>f any kind, 
ind bigotry, 
ilosophy, 
up in the guise of right, 

itself for light; 
and exclaim, with a frown, 
nail them dmvn? 

—Charles Mackay 




GOLD vs. GLITTER 

I SHOULD have more faith in Christianity if 
there were not so many hypocrites in the 
church. Why, my friend, do you not know that 
hypocrites. are among the very best witnesses to 
the valive of real Christianity? Were it not for 
the impostors in the church, we should have 
good reason to despise true disciplcship. Had 
there been no Judas among the twelve apostles 
we might well hesitate about following the 
other eleven. Do you doubt it? Think a mo- 
ment and you will agree with me. 

What kind 01 coins are most frequently 
counterfeited, the gold or the copper? The 
gold, of course. Why? Simply because they 
are so valuable. It is not worth while to coun- 
terfeit copper, for the counterfeit would cost as 
much as the genuine, and would be worth about 
as much. But gold pieces and bank notes of 
large value tempt the skill of the coun- 
terfeiter, and well repay his labor and 
risk when successful. Imitations of such 
are therefore numerous. For like reason 
we may find many pretenders in the Christian 
church. They are the tokens of its worth, not 
3 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS ' 

the evidence of its worthlessness. Christianity 
is among religions as gold among the coins ; 
hence the Gospel has more spurious imitations 
and the Christian church more hypocrites than 
any other religious system the world has ever 
seen. The fact is undeniable. No true disciple 
ever need be ashamed that it is so : for this is one 
of the evidences of. the truth of Christianity, not 
an argument for infidelity. Another sort of 
counterfeit by which the currency of the king- 
dom is often discredited are the falsehoods 
which Satan is perpetually putting in circulation 
in the place of Gospel truth. And these coun- 
terfeits are so well made that in many cases they 
deceive the very elect. Mr. Moody said, 'There 
is a lot of stuff men call the Gospel that has no 
more Gospel in it than there is wheat in saw- 
dust, but some people don't seem to know the 
difference." He tells a story of a young house- 
keeper who kept her accounts very carefully, 
but closed the entries of each week with an item 
to "G. K. W." When her husband ?»sked her 
who G. K. W. was she replied that a c . the ac- 
count never balanced exactly, she put down the 
balance to "Goodness knows what." And, Mr. 
Moody added, that when he hears some men 
preach he puts it down to "Goodness knows 
what." He did not know just what they were 
4 



SPIRITUAL COINS AXD COUNTERFEITS 

talking" about ; but he was certain it was not the 
Gospel. 

As the greater worth, of the coin makes any 
counterfeit the more injurious, involving as it 
does the greater loss to every one who is de- 
ceived by it ; so the importance of truth is the 
measure of falsehood's baneful efficiency The 
power of God's truth to save men involves the 
power of error or falsehood to destroy them. 

YVe have various tests for coins and notes. We 
compare them with others. We note their .ring. 
We examine them with a microscope. Here is 
the infallible test for spiritual coins : "To the 
law and to the testimony ! If they speak not 
according to this word, surely there is no morn- 
ing- for them/' Isaiah 8 :20< 



II 
REGENERATION vs. REFORMATION 

THE gospel of worldly wisdom today is at- 
tuned to the key of "Reform/' The apos- 
tle of the age is a "Reformer/' And his mes- 
sage is "Reformation." This is the panacea of 
social ills. This is the cure of every disease in 
the body politic. This is the remedy for every 
personal trouble. This is the crying need of the 
church of Jesus Christ. This is the hope of 
every individual human soul. Reformation ! 
"If men will only adopt my scheme and follow 
my plan they will be all right, the world will be 
happy, the Millennium will be here." 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, on the other 
hand, knows no such partial idea as reformation. 
Our Lord was no mere reformer, slashing right 
and left at existing institutions, and locating 
the source of all evil in things or methods. 
Though evils abounded on every hand, the apos- 
tles made no direct attack upon them. Theirs 
was a deeper, grander, more permanent work. 
They aimed not at the reformation but the re- 
generation of men. Their motto was, "Except 
a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom 
of heaven." 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

After all, what is the difference? Is it vital? 

A man says, "I have reformed:" and what 
does he mean? Simply that he has taken off 
his old coat and put on a new one. The new 
garment may be genuine wool or it may be 
shoddy. It looks well in any case so long as it 
is new; but when it is worn it will be just as 
ragged as the old one. All the while the man 
remains the same. 

Every scheme of reform looks well till its 
freshness is gone ; then it is no better than that 
which it displaced. Men always find out in the 
end that "New Presbyter is only old Priest writ 
large." Let a profane man reform, for exam- 
ple, and his newly acquired interjections will 
soon get the ring of the old-time oaths. To- 
morrow's "Hang it !" will sound very like yester- 
day's "Damn it !" and will have about the same 
meaning. As well hope to civilize the savages 
of darkest Africa by sending with every cargo 
of rum a corresponding cargo of dress-coats 
and patent-leathers as to redeem humanity by 
the process of reformation. 

Regeneration, on the other hand, implies first 
of all a change in the man which will inevitably 
be followed by a change of habits and plans 
and often even of clothes. Regeneration always 
begins at the heart. It rectifies the ideals. It 
7 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

transforms the character. It transfigures the 
spirit. And so working outward it gradually 
but surely brings the entire being into harmony 
with the divine law. It justifies Emerson's 
apothegm, ''Right ethics are central, and go 
from the soul outward/' 

Counterfeits are of many kinds. Sometimes 
the entire coin is of base metal made to resem- 
ble gold or silver. In other cases the surface is 
genuine, the middle of the coin having been re- 
moved and replaced with the base metal. Re- 
formation is a spiritual counterfeit of this kind. 
It is all right on the surface. The external 
marks are quite perfect. It responds to all su- 
perficial tests for genuine metal. The acid and 
the microscope do not detect any fault. But 
test it by its ring, or dig beneath the surface, 
and the sham is quickly made apparent. Re- 
formation is npt as good as regeneration. Re- 
formation can never redeem the race. It can 
never bring the Millennium. Reformation makes 
a man respectable ; regeneration makes him 
righteous. Reformation makes society com- 
fortable; regeneration makes it Christian. Re- 
formation makes the world decent ; regenera- 
tion makes it divine. 



Ill 

PRINCIPLE vs. POLICY 

IN the great struggle with evil two methods 
of warfare present themselves for our choice. 
We must choose between the two in every bat- 
tle with the wrong, — the method of Principle, 
and the method of Policy. 

Policy faces every crisis with a number of 
questions. What is wise ? What is expedient ? 
What is practicable? Principle simply asks s 
What is right? Policy has a sort of "ball bear- 
ing" system of proverbs with which to lessen the 
wear and tear of conscience and at the same 
time diminish the friction of life. But principle 
will have none of them. "Of two evils choose 
the less." says policy. "Of two evils choose 
neither," replies principle. 

Principle is bold. It looks straight at the 
goal to be reached and permits nothing to turn 
it aside by so much as a hair's breadth. It takes 
no account of difficulty or danger ; but thinks 
only of truth and righteousness. Policy is weak 
and cowardly. It aims at righteousness, too, 
but allows itself to be satisfied with something 
far short of righteousness. It accepts a half 
loaf, and of very poor quality at that, when there 
9 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

is an abundance of the best bread to be had for 
the effort. 

Principle is fixed. It is the same for all men 
in all lands and throughout all ages. It is a 
simple standard and makes the path of duty 
clear and plain. Policy is fickle, changing with 
every new day and every new combination of 
circumstances. Much of the perplexity of the 
Christian life grows out of the worship of policy 
in the place of principle. The problems of bi- 
metalism are nothing to those of bi-moralism. 
A child can interpret and apply the Sermon on 
the Mount, but it takes an accomplished casuist 
to cut a life by the pattern of world! v wisdom 
and then make it appear to fit a Christian saint. 

Principle is true and manly ; but policy is 
treacherous and unreliable. Look at Martin 
Luther as he scorns the persuasion of friends 
and declares, "I will go to Worms, though there 
be as many devils there as -tiles on the house- 
tops !" Rashly impolitic, but true to principle, 
he overawes his persecutors and brings in the 
world's greatest reformation. How different 
with the great Wolsey. King Henry's time- 
serving and politic cardinal. After years of the 
most careful attention to the leadings of policy 
he falls from the dizzy height which he had 
reached, and in a moment of remorse confessed 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

that where policy had failed, principle would 
have brought him forth with triumph : 

" Had I but served my God with half the zeal 
I served my king. He would not in my age 
Have left me naked to mine enemies." 

So the men of policy have ever found their 
mistress a treacherous Delilah at the last. But 
the men of principle have led the world forward 
in the line of enduring progress. For their lives 
we are all richer. And if they have met with 
personal defeat and loss and even death, these 
have been but the portals through which they 
have entered upon a glorious immortality. 

The true Christian must ever be a man of 
principle. Jesus Christ recognized no policy 
but the policy of principle, the policy of perfect 
righteousness. And he who accepts any other 
standard introduces base coin into the kingdom. 
A sturdy Scotchman has put the truth compact- 
ly and in most expressive form : 

" Perish policy and cunning; 
Perish all that fears the light: 
Whether losing, whether winning. 
Trust in God and do the right." 



TT 



IV 
. FAITH vs. FEELING 

FAITH is the inspiration for Christian work. 
Feeling is the perspiration from Christian 
work. The difference ought to be self-evident ; 
but some persons fail to discern it. We pray for 
enlarged spiritual experience and opportunity of 
service, and then we hold back because we lack 
the proper degree of feeling. 

It is astonishing how much importance the 
average disciple or would-be disciple attaches to 
this matter of feeling. For want of feeling mul- 
titudes halt just outside the door of the heavenly 
fold. For want of feeling multitudes more inside 
the fold hesitate to undertake all manner of duty 
and service. One will not pray because "he 
does not feel in a prayerful mood.'' Another 
will not accept the baptism of the Spirit because 
he has experienced no wonderful ecstacy of feel- 
ing like that of Pentecost. And others refrain 
from deeds of kindness to the needy because 
they do not feel that deep sense of Christly love 
for such persons which they think they ought 
to feel. 

Jesus never said anything about feeling as a 
condition of acceptance or of highest blessing. 

12 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

Everywhere it is faith, and only faith. ''Accord- 
ing to your faith be it unto you," is the word. 
And many of those who fulfilled this condition 
evinced very little feeling till after the blessing- 
came. There was Peter. He had been fishing- 
through the night in vain. The Master comes 
and bids him push out and let down the net. 
What was Peter's reply? "We have toiled all 
night and taken nothing. I do not feel like try- 
ing again ; for there are no fish there ; neverthe- 
less at thy word I will let down the net." There 
was a direct conflict between faith and feeling ; 
and faith triumphed. Peter had feeling enough 
when he saw that bursting net. 

And that is the cure for lack of feeling. Do 
the Master's bidding, even though it seems to 
contradict the plainest teachings of your own 
common sense. Push out into the deep and let 
down the net, even though you are morally cer- 
tain there is not a fish in all those waters. The 
service that is begun in cold and even dogged 
faith often ends in warmest rapture. 

Sam Jones used to tell of an old farmer who 
sat one day in the comfortable shade of a great 
oak with his scythe beside him doing nothing, 
when a neighbor came along. "Why don't you 
go to work?" asked the neighbor. "I am wait- 
ing till I begin to perspire. If I could only per- 
13 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

spire, I would go to work," replied the farmer. 
"Why," said the other, "you old idiot, go out 
into the* sun and swing that scythe for a half 
hour and you will perspire all you want to!" 
The parable interprets itself. The Christian who 
is waiting for feeling should go to work for the 
Master in earnest, and the feeling would come 
fast enough. Faith before service, but feeling 
after service; that is the order. Omit the faith, 
and everything is lost. But it is no great matter 
if you omit the feeling. The first is the hot fire 
in the engine that makes the train go. The 
other may be the hot-box on the axle that some- 
times makes the train stop. 

David, the Tamil evangelist, was speaking at 
Roundtop, East Northfield, about the relation 
between faith and feeling. Just then the supper 
bell rang. "Ah, there it is now," he said. "You 
hear the bell, and you start for the boarding 
house. That is faith. When you get there you 
find the supper. That is fact. After supper is 
ended, you experience a sense of satisfaction; 
That is feeling." 



14 



V 

LIBERTY vs. LAXITY 

ARE you a Republican or a Democrat, Pat'" 
said his employer, one day. "Sure, I don't 
know, sor," was the reply ; "but I am agin the 
government ivery toime." There is a great deal 
of religion in this world that is just like Pat's 
politics. Having no definite belief or principle 
of its own it delights in attacking all creeds at 
once under the banner of "liberalism." 

When a man says of himself, "I am a liberal," 
beware of him as you value your peace. There 
is no bigotry under the sun so hopelessly big- 
oted as the bigotry of a self-styled liberal. 
Thomas Paine and Robert Ingersoll were im- 
measurably more bigoted than John Calvin and 
others of his class whom they delighted to ridi- 
cule. And there is more intolerance today in 
the so-called liberal churches than in those which 
they dub narrow and conservative. 

Nothing is more common at the present time 
than to confound liberality or intolerance with 
indcfiniteness. To have a clearly defined creed 
or a fixed standard of action is commonly mis- 
taken for narrowness or bigotry. To measure 
one's life and conduct by the plumbHne of un- 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

varying moral principle is looked upon as old 
fashioned. The clamor of the age is for liberal- 
ity, progress, tolerance. And we are very much 
afraid of the word intolerance. 

Now spiritual breadth or intolerance does not 
imply utter mistiness of spiritual vision. It does 
not involve ignorance or indefiniteness. Least 
of all does it necessitate the absolute lack of a 
creed. Every man who has a mind and who 
uses it to think with, must have a creed. It may 
never have been put into words, it may not ac- 
cord with any of the accepted symbols of the 
church ; but it must exist in his own mind. And 
he is the truly liberal man who, having a very 
definite creed of his own, can be perfectly toler- 
ant of his neighbor who has a creed equally 
definite, but different. By the same token, moral 
breadth does not imply laxity of moral stand- 
ards nor carelessness in their application. It 
rather implies strictness towards self with the 
utmost charity towards others. It uses the 
plumbline in its own building, not to show the 
poor workmanship of its neighbors. 

That is a spurious liberality that stultifies the 
mind with unbeliefs, and that weakens the con- 
science with low standards of life in the name 
of charity. By all means, let this be the age of 
liberality and tolerance ; let us pride ourselves 
16 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

in the fact that it is such ; but let it be a true 
liberality, not an empty sound. Let it be the 
positive growth of Christian charity, not the 
negative drift of an unchristian carelessness. 



VI 
LAW vs. LUCK 

MANY persons seem to look upon the re- 
ligious life as a sort of modern fairy tale 
in which all sorts of wonderful things are liable 
to ''happen" without any cause whatever. God 
is to them only a greater edition of the kind 
genie who, at the most unexpected times and in 
the most unlikely circumstances, brings about 
uncaused marvels for the benefit of His specially 
favored children. But, like the fairy tale, this 
ideal of spiritual life never gets translated into 
reality. It always remains an unsubstantial il- 
lusion. 

Such are the persons who look for some ex- 
traordinary experience like that of Saul on the 
Damascus road or of Jacob at Bethel or Peniel 
to convert them and transform them into saints 
while they are living in utter indifference and 
frivolity. Such, too, are the disciples who pray 
for the baptism of the Holy Spirit or for a great 
revival in the church, and then sit quietly down 
and wait for "something to turn up." 

We are continually telling our children that 
the outcome of their lives and actions depends 
not upon chance but upon certain definite laws 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

and conditions which they must regard if they 
would not invite failure in all their plans. And 
then we bemoan our spiritual failures and dis- 
appointments as though there were no laws and 
conditions in that realm, and we were the vic- 
tims of an unkind Providence. Some very in- 
telligent persons who would scorn to talk of 
luck and chance in their daily work, will talk and 
pray about spiritual gifts as if they were wholly 
matters of caprice. Is it strange, then, that the 
average religious life is so childish? Is it strange 
that after so many centuries of Christian teach- 
ing we are still most of us babes in Christ? 

To make religion a realm of chance while the 
remainder of life is woven with the threads of 
order and system and law is to keep the spiritual 
part of life ever in the shadow of the material 
and the intellectual. We need have no fear for 
the freedom of divine grace on the one hand nor 
for the liberty of the spiritual life on the other. 
As the discovery of the universal reign of law in 
the natural world has at once exalted God and 
made man a greater being ; so the recognition of 
the same reign of law in the spiritual world 
deepens our reverence for God while it stimu- 
lates us to more intelligent endeavor in His ser- 
vice. 

"Luck" is the catch word of thriftlessness and 
19 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

ignorance. "Law" is the talisman of thrift and 
progress. Luck paralyzes intelligent effort. 
Law is a continual inspiration to study and la- 
bor. To the child or the savage most things 
"happen;" i. e., they come by chance. The ma- 
ture and intelligent mind sees in every event the 
natural working out of some fixed law. The 
growth of science has been a steady progress in 
the recognition of a divine order in the universe, 
and in the discovery of the relations of cause and 
effect. There could be no science in a world 
where things "happened." Stable commerce, 
too, is based upon fixed laws. The gambler and 
the speculator, the dealers in chance, hamper 
the progress of trade. The reign of chance 
would involve confusion and the perpetual in- 
fancy of the race. The reign of law means har- 
mony and makes possible the perfection of man- 
kind. 

The Christianity of the 19th century has dis- 
covered the reign of "Natural law in the Spir- 
itual world." It remains for the 20th century 
church to live up to this discovery, to cease 
making Providence a synonym for chance and 
instead to lay hold of it as a reliable source of 
power, to see in all life 

" One God, one law, one element, 
And one far off divine event, 
To which the whole creation moves." 
20 



VII 

RIGHTEOUSNESS vs. RESPECTABILITY 

AMONG the coins in the currency of the 
Kingdom of Heaven none is more valu- 
able than righteousness. Jesus new-minted it 
and sent it forth into circulation stamped on 
the one side with His own image and on the 
other with the legend, "Ye therefore shall be 
perfect." Very soon, however, there crept into 
circulation a very attractive and dangerous 
counterfeit known as respectability. In general 
appearance it closely resembles the genuine 
coin of righteousness ; but a more careful in- 
spection discovers the figure of a Pharisee in the 
place of the Christ : and on the reverse side the 
legend reads, "Vox populi vox dei." (The voice 
of the public is the voice of God.) 

Many a prominent church is merely a local 
bank for the output of this false coin. Its mem- 
bership is a respectable gathering of respecta- 
ble people without one scintilla of real Chris- 
tian righteousness. They are models of refine- 
ment, culture, intelligence, propriety; but whol- 
ly wanting in the spirit of charity and self-sacri- 
fice. They are men and women who are looked 
upon by the entire community as patterns of 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS . 

virtue and social excellence ; but their character 
has no pervasive, leavening power. Like Ten- 
nyson's Maud, they are 

" Faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null. 
Dead perfection, no more." 

Like the gold in Klondike sands which lies 
for ages in contact with the worthless dust and 
yet changes not one particle to the likeness of 
its own priceless beauty, they exert no influence 
to transform or uplift the life about them. 

Such were the Pharisees of old. "Hypo- 
crites ?" No, not all of them. They were many 
of them exceedingly honest and scrupulous. 
And as a sect they were the very best people of 
the time. Jesus recognized the real excellence 
of their lives, their purity, their uprightness, 
their zeal ; yet He said to His disciples, "Except 
your righteousness shall exceed the righteous- 
ness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no 
wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." 

What was the fault with Pharisaic righteous- 
ness? It w r as the false coin, respectability. It 
was a rule of life prescribed by public opinion. 
Very exacting was that opinion, but it could 
never inspire true righteousness. That is an in- 
dividual matter. It is the outgrowth of personal 
conviction. And that personal conviction must 
be derived from the very word of God. 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

Furthermore, righteousness is not fixed, but 
progressive. Its standard rises higher from day 
to day. Its manifestation becomes more exalted 
with every passing year. The respectability of 
yesterday may pass muster today, but yester- 
day's righteousness repeated today is sin. 

Do you ask me to define the exact difference 
between righteousness and respectability. Here 
it is in a nutshell. Respectability keeps itself 
unspotted from the world. Righteousness helps 
to remove the spots from the world itself. Re- 
spectability is proudly exclusive. Righteous- 
ness is humbly receptive. Respectability gilds 
the very gateways to perdition. Righteousness 
lays the eternal foundations of the heavenly city. 



23 



VIII 
RIGHT vs. RIGHTS 

THE Golden Rule is not a "bill of rights." 
Rather does it represent the will to do 
right. In all the teaching of Christ the word 
"rights" finds no place ; but the word "right'' 
or "righteousness" occurs with exceeding fre- 
quency. True, no man ever did so much as 
Jesus to secure the rights of every member of 
the human race. Woman's rights, children's 
rights, the rights of servants and masters, the 
rights of the poor and the weak and the ignor- 
ant, all have found an increasingly clear recog- 
nition and respect with the spread of the Gospel. 
Yet this has come about by the persistent incul- 
cation of the principle of right and the equally 
persistent restraining of the spirit which de- 
mands "my rights." 

Today we hear a great deal about the rights 
of particular classes or individuals. In fact the 
great mass of human society is divided in every 
direction by cleavage planes of conflicting rights. 
The wars of the ages have been fought for the 
most part to secure the rights of nations or 
tribes or classes. And they are not few who 
consider it a perfectly Christian ideal to.main- 
24 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

tain their rights. Christian preachers not sel- 
dom proclaim a Gospel of rights rather than of 
right. Not so did our Lord. 

A man once came to Jesus with the appeal, 
"Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the 
inheritance with me." In other words, "Master, 
help me to secure my rights." What a reason- 
able request ! Here was a grand opening for 
practical work along the line of social reform. 
The average disciple of the present day would 
quit preaching the Gospel in a moment fcr a 
chance like that, and announce a series of dis- 
courses on "The Equalization of Wealth." Then 
h<- would neglect the prayer-meeting to gather 
statistics of like injustice and form communistic 
clubs. And finally he would turn the church 
over to other hands that he might be free to be- 
come the leader of some great "movement." 
What did Jesus do? He preached the man a 
most impressive sermon on the folly of covet- 
ousness, and showed him the infinite superiority 
of right over rights. 

Christian to maintain one's rights? Why, it 
isn't even moral ! Rights is a social word, a 
term of economic science. Fancy the Savior 
demanding His rights ! He never asked for 
them, and never received them. And He is the 
absolute pattern for the disciple. Rights is a 
25 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

counterfeit coin that is displacing the genuine 
metal of right in many hearts. The man who 
asks, "What would Jesus do?" will never be 
heard whining about his rights. He won't have 
time to think of rights ; for he will be wholly 
absorbed with righteousness. 

See how this counterfeit has been made. The 
principle of right is founded upon a sense of in- 
debtedness. Duty is but another form of the 
word debt. Every true man says with Paul, *T 
am a debtor/' and the great effort of his life is 
to discharge his debt to God, to the world and 
to himself. The selfish man seizes upon this 
thought of indebtedness and reverses it. He 
says, "The world owes me this or that," and in 
this mold he shapes the idea of rights. 

Right is the telescope through which we clear- 
ly discern the rights of others. But let us be- 
ware how w r e reverse the telescope ; for doing 
that our fellow men seem exceedingly remote 
and their interests correspondingly dim. With 
the coin of right every debt of rights will be paid 
in full. But when the counterfeit of rights 
steals into circulation, debts increase; for "a 
man's life consisteth not in the abundance of 
things which he possesseth." 



26 



IX 
CHRISTIANITY vs. CHURCHIANITY 



N 



T OT long ago a popular and beloved ex- 
governor of one of our New England 
states died. He had been a member of a Unitar- 
ian church in his native city, but as the building 
where he had been accustomed to worship was 
far too small to accommodate those who desired 
to attend his funeral the rector of the largest 
Episcopal church in the city graciously offered 
the use of his church for the service. The offer 
was accepted in the spirit in which it was made, 
and the occasion thus became a most worthy 
expression of Christly courtesy and hospitality. 
That was Christianity. 

But the story has a sequel. Certain strict ec- 
clesiastics of the narrow sort denounced the 
broad-minded and large-hearted rector as "un- 
faithful to his trust," and declared that "how- 
ever great the occasion of those present might 
be, it was an act of profanation." And all this 
because one who differed from them in certain 
ai tides of belief and who had not been ordained 
in exact accordance with the traditions of their 
order had been permitted to hold a religious 
service in their church. That was Churchianity. 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

A pastor of another denomination read the 
account of this occurrence in the daily paper 
and was filled with disgust at such a display of 
bigotry. Muttering, "Churchianity," he threw 
clown the paper and went into his study to finish 
a scholarly and eloquent sermon on the topic, 
"Why am I a Baptodigarian ?" quite uncon- 
scious that he was planning to pass off upon his 
people for the current coin of the realm some of 
the same worthless counterfeits. 

A layman, superintendent of a neighboring 
Sunday School of a different name, attended the 
pastor's church the next Sabbath morning. For 
a time he listened to the sermon with ill conceal- 
ed disapproval, then he turned his mind to the 
more agreeable task of concocting a system of 
prizes and other attractions by means of which 
his own school might be built up at the expense 
of other schools in the vicinity. And long be- 
fore the last hymn was given out he began to 
have visions of a membership roll larger than 
that of any other Sunday School in the city. 
Xor did he dream that the gold of his Christian 
service and consecration was being exchanged 
for the brass of churchianity. 

The proprietor of a large factory heard the 
sermon, and said to his wife on the way home 

that he wished Dr. would not place so 

28 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

much emphasis on mere sectarianism. He be- 
lieved in working for the spread of the Gospel 
over the world. And he gave a great gift to 
foreign missions and immediately cut the pay of 
his operatives to make up the loss. 

In the same church was a wealthy lady who 
was always in her place on Sunday and very ac- 
tive in all departments of religious work : but at 
home she never took any interest in the spiritual 
welfare of her servants, nor showed any sym- 
pathy in their troubles or weaknesses. In fact, 
she always hired foreigners or Catholics if pos- 
sible ; for then they wouldn't be wanting to go 
to service just when she wanted to go; and she 
couldn't be expected to understand their ways 
of looking at religious things. 

Churchianity is not confined to one or two 
sects. There are multitudes of persons who 
have a deep seated aversion to Romanism, and 
who never could be accused of any leaning to- 
wards Episcopacy, who yet have their pockets 
filled with this counterfeit coin. They may not 
be limited in their interest to one particular 
church ; but none the less their religion is of the 
church churchly, and does not have that Christly 
outlook that cared little for the church, but 
made much of the Kingdom of God. 



29 



X 

FRUIT vs. FOLIAGE 

" The rank is but the guinea's stamp — 
The man's the gowd for a' that." 

THUS says Robbie Burns ; and all the world 
says, Amen. Yet while we join heartily in 
the chorus, and mean it too, we often find our- 
selves coveting the mere externals of rank or 
reputation or culture or some other accident of 
humanity, and rejecting the pure gold of man- 
hood. And unfortunately the "guinea's stamp" 
is as easily impressed upon brass and pewter as 
upon silver and gold. A rascal may acquire the 
polish of the dancing school or the manners of 
polite society no less easily than the man of 
sterling worth; but he is none the less a rascal 
for all that. 

For this sort of counterfeit our Lord has 
given us a simple but infallible test. "By their 
fiuits ye shall know them." Now all such things 
as rank, reputation, respectability, yes, even 
culture and learning and polished manners, are 
but the ornaments of life, the leaves of the tree. 
Character, character, that is the fruit and that 
alone. The life that fails in point of character, 
30 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

though it attain largest worldly success and 
honor is a fruitless life. 

Listen to St. Paul — "The fruit of the Spirit is 
love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, 
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." What, 
not a word about intelligence and learning and 
respectability? No, not a word. He does not 
even mention religious fervor and prayer-meet- 
ing piety. Why Because these are after all 
nothing but leaves. 

Of course leaves have their value and mission 
in the world. A tree without leaves is not an 
object of beauty. Leaves often lend a grateful 
shade to the weary and sun scorched traveler. 
They suggest coolness and refreshment. Still 
fruit is the important thing. The fruitless tree, 
be it ever so beautiful, has missed the chief end 
of its existence and has forfeited the promise 
of continued life. 

We would not disparage the foliage of life. 
Polished manners, a cultivated mind, a good 
reputation, all are good so far as they go. They 
add to the pleasure of living, and temper the 
heat of life's journey and toil. As the seer of 
Revelation has it, "The leaves of the tree are for 
the healing of the nations. " But they are not 
sufficient for the supreme needs of men. Learn- 
ing or refinement may gloss over the ills of life ; 
31 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

but they do not heal them. Studied politeness 
may hold evil passions in check or conceal them 
from view; but it cannot remove them. Repu- 
tation cannot save a soul, nor can a good ap- 
pearance satisfy the heart hunger of humanity. 
Character alone can do that. Only the actual 
cultivation of the Christly spirit can fit man for 
the heavenly life, or make him a fountain of 
strength for the weak and needy. 

Do not despise the external. On the other 
hand, do not be deceived by it. It is better to be 
than to seem ; but best of all to be what you 
seem and to seem what you are. 



3^ 



XI 
REPENTANCE vs. REMORSE 

THERE is no merit in sorrow for sin. It is 
not current coin; but only crude ore, and 
very often it is "fools' gold" at that. Doubtless 
the four young men recently convicted of a foul 
crime in Patterson, "X. J., are all truly sorry for 
their sin, but none of them has given the small- 
est evidence of a changed heart. The conviction 
of the court has not been followed by a con- 
viction of conscience. Their sorrow grows out 
oi the consequences to themselves, not from 
pity for the one they wronged, nor from any 
sense of the wickedness of their action. 

Feeling of any kind is without moral worth. 
Its value must be determined by its expression. 
Before we can pronounce upon its character, 
we must ask, What are its results? That sor- 
row for sin that leads to sin's forsaking is gen- 
uine ore from the mines of the Kingdom, pure 
arid priceless. But the sorrow that corrodes 
the life and breeds despair is spurious. 

The sorrow of Judas, when brought face to 

face with the results of his treachery, was no less 

profound than that of Peter ; but it was of a 

different sort and produced the counterfeit re- 

33 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

morse. It was but a step to the added sin of 
suicide which cut off all opportunity for restora- 
tion. 

The sorrow of Peter, on the other hand, kind- 
led into repentance. Tears were followed by 
turning from sin to consecrated service. A life 
of loyalty and a martyr's death atoned for the 
weakness of an hour; and the memory of that 
brief lapse became a lifelong motive for cour- 
age and high endeavor. So the early experience 
of sin and repentance became a force for the 
development of final sainthood. 

John the Baptist and Jesus both preached re- 
pentance ; but neither of them said anything 
about sorrow for sin. With them repentance 
meant above all things else the turning away 
from sin. The feeling of sorrow is wholly sec- 
ondary. Saul of Tarsus repented of his sins on 
the road to Damascus ; but it is long before we 
find him giving expression to any deep sense of 
sin. For the time he seems wholly absorbed in 
the thought of turning to new lines of service. 

Today many a would-be disciple halts at the 
threshold of the Christian life long and wearily 
because he has no deep feeling of sorrow for 
sin. For want of this, he imagines that he can- 
not fulfill the Gospel demand for repentance. If 
sr.ch persons would only turn from all un- 
34 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

christian ways and ideals to the service of Christ 
and His Kingdom even though they had no feel- 
ing, they would find themselves accepted and 
blessed of the Master. 

The coin of genuine repentance is a valuable 
adjunct to the currency of the Christian church ; 
but our spiritual life is sadly impoverished by its 
counterfeit. A hard and worldly but scrupulous- 
1} orthodox deacon had been listening to a 
sermon on holiness. After service he said to 
the preacher, ''That's all right for an ideal ; but 
ot course we can never live up to it. I do not 
rest my hope of salvation on my holy life, but 
upon the fact that whenever I commit a sin I al- 
ways repent of it. Why, I never abuse my 
horse, but I am sorry and ashamed afterwards/' 
"Well," returned the preacher, "if your sorrow 
doesn't make you quit abusing him, it won't save 
\ ou from perdition." 

Remorse is not repentance, nor can it take the 
place of repentance. Remorse weeps over sin 
and then goes on to greater sin. Repentance 
forsakes sin so quickly that it sometimes for- 
gets to weep. Remorse fixes the life more firm- 
1; in an evil way. Repentance turns the life into 
the way of righteousness. Remorse doggedly 
closes the door of hope. Repentance flings it 
^ide open and lets in the sunshine of God's love. 
35 



XII 
PRINCIPLES vs. PRECEPTS 

PRINCIPLES are seeds of power and prog- 
ress. Precepts are but props of weakness. 
Principles in life are like the bits of colored 
glass in the kaleidoscope. Though few in num- 
ber they are capable of producing infinitely va- 
ried and beautiful results by the revolution of 
circumstance. Precepts are like the denomi- 
nator to a fraction. Multiplying them only de- 
creases its value. 

Johnny Lazybones is in the grammar school, 
and every evening he asks his mother to show 
him how to do his examples. She, patient and 
good-natured mother that she is, has done all 
her boy's examples for him since he entered the 
primary school and he has copied her work, to 
the marvel of his teachers and the benefit of his 
standing in his classes. Yet Johnny has less 
power to understand the problems now than he 
had at the first, and his mother sighs as she 
says : "The poor boy seems to have no head for 
arithmetic !" Poor boy, indeed ! But the fault 
i*i with his mother more than with him. Her 
mistaken kindness has nearly ruined all the head 
he had at the first. If she had refused to tell 
36 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

him every step, and had explained the principles, 
letting him work them out for himself, he might 
have been a genius today instead of the dunce 
that he is. 

Johnny has a host of imitators in the Chris- 
tian church. Xot that they are all lazy. Far 
fiom it. Many of them are really zealous, con- 
scientious disciples. But they are the victims 
of a mistaken ideal. They have been trained by 
a false method of spiritual culture. And so long' 
as they adhere to this false method their zeal 
cannot save them from ultimate disaster. They 
are accepting a counterfeit gospel in place of the 
true coin and conscientiousness on their part 
will not transform their loss into gain. 

They are the disciples who seek for a definite 
"Thou shalt," or "Thou shalt not" bv which to 
decide every question of life and conduct. They 
find it in the Bible if possible. If not, then in 
the rules of their church or the advice of -some 
older disciple. When all other means fail, they 
treat the Bible like a heathen oracle and extort 
an answer by blindly touching its pages and 
reading the passages thus pointed out. 

Such methods do not produce strong, virile 
sainthood. They do not develop spiritual intel- 
ligence and power. They do not increase the 
fruitfulness and influence of the church. Their 
37 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

only result is a manifestation of spiritual petti- 
ness that is closely akin to frivolity. They keep 
the disciple in a state of perpetual infancy. 

Jesus embodied all righteousness in two prin- 
ciples, Love to God and Love to Man, and bade 
His disciples solve life's numberless problems 
by those. What result? "Blunders?" Yes, 
blunders many and failures more. But in spite 
cf blunders and failures — nay, even by the aid 
o" these, growth, progress, strength, manhood. 
That has been the history of the church. It 
must be your history, my young friend. 

Don't you remember how you bungled and 
fumbled over that difficult problem in "quad- 
ratics" when you were in the high school? The 
teacher refused to help you, and made you work 
it out for yourself, and when, after more than 
a week of hard thinking, you conquered it, you 
knew that you had taken a long stride in your 
knowledge of algebra. 

Why not do the same in the School of Christ ? 
When some hard question of duty thrusts itself 
upon you don't search for precepts, don't ask 
your pastor or Sunday School teacher. They 
have problems enough of their own. Think the 
matter out for yourself in the light of the Gos- 
pel principles. You may blunder sometimes, 
and get a figure wrong here and there, but prac- 
38 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 



tice will quickly make you perfect. And every 
question thus answered will mark a forward 
step in your spiritual life. It will stand for a 
definite increase of wisdom and power. 



39 



XIII 
EXCUSES vs. REASON 

THINGS outwardly similar may be wholly 
unlike in essence. The living rose is far 
removed from its waxen imitation, however per- 
fect the workmanship of the latter. The dia- 
mond and the gem of paste have nothing in com- 
mon except their appearance, and even that can- 
not deceive the initiated. Yet superficial ob- 
servers are often led astray by mere external 
resemblances. How many persons, for exam- 
ple, fail to distinguish between a reason and an 
excuse. They look upon the words as practical- 
ly synonymous, the ideas as identical. In point 
cf fact, however, the only relation between the 
two is- that of outward appearance. In essential 
character they are as remote as the opposite 
poles. 

An excuse is a manufactured article. A rea- 
son is a natural growth. An excuse is inspired 
by the consciousness of wrong. A reason is the 
ground and justification of right. An excuse is 
essentially untrue. A reason must be true, or 
it is no reason. An excuse reveals weakness 
and a lack of real manly courage. A reason in- 
dicates intelligence and true strength. An ex- 
40 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

<;use only makes a bad matter worse ; adds dis- 
honesty to failure, falsehood to wrong-doing. 
A reason removes the appearance and suspicion 
of evil, and makes "righteousness to go forth 
a*.- the light, and judgment as the noonday." He 
who can render a reason for his conduct com- 
mands respect even though his action may not 
meet with popular approval. But there is noth- 
ing else in this world so utterly inexcusable as 
an excuse. It is a most senseless thing, a coun- 
terfeit coin, without value and having no claim 
to respect. 

Excuses are an invention of the devil ; and un- 
fortunately he never takes out a patent. On the 
contrary, he is best pleased when men make free 
use of his most brilliant ideas. Nothing can be 
more highly gratifying to him than the eager- 
ness and skill with which men turn out excuses 
and place them on the market. 

An excuse always implies wrong-doing or 
failure. Were there no wrong, there would be 
no excuses. The excuse aggravates the very 
evil from which it springs. He who frankly 
confesses a wrong has taken the first and most 
important step towards amendment. He who 
manufactures an excuse for his short-coming 
has forged a fresh link in the chain that binds 
him to perpetual evil. 

41 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

Defined in plain Anglo-Saxon and reduced to 
its lowest terms, an excuse is a lie, — always and 
everywhere, a lie. It is never anything else. 
Doubtless, the excuse maker is often uncon- 
scious of falsehood. He has exercised the ut- 
most care. His words have been thoughtfully 
chosen. He has woven in every strand of truth 
that circumstances furnished. Yet, after all, the 
product is only a lie. He may have mixed with 
it enough of truth to deceive himself ; but others 
are seldom deceived. The excuse usually fails 
to fulfill its promise. It neither conceals the 
wrong nor in any degree alleviates it. 

Sin and the excuse for sin are twin sisters. 
The first sin led to the first excuse. The sin is 
easily forgiven. The excuse is unpardonable; 
and we despise our first parent for giving it ut- 
terance. When men and women shall make an 
end of manufacturing excuses' we may look for 
the Millennium ; nor shall we wait long for its 
coming. The final triumph of God's Kingdom 
will be heralded by a period of honesty. Con- 
fession will take the place of evasion, and hearty 
obedience will conquer the spirit of unwilling- 
ness. Men will no longer spend their time, their 
energy, and their intellectual force in concoct- 
ing excuses for the neglect of duty and responsi- 
bility. On the contrary, every energy will be 
42 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

bent towards the earnest and cheerful fulfillment 
of duty, every thought devoted to most useful 
and effective service. Blessed is the man who 
never makes an excuse : for verily he is not far 
from the kingdom of God. 



43 



XIV 
SENSITIVENESS vs. SELFISHNESS 

SENSITIVENESS is a Christian grace. Sen- 
sitiveness is an unchristian vice. The sen- 
sitive person is a blessing to society. The 
sensitive person is a nuisance in any community. 
The sensitive spirit should be assiduously culti- 
vated by all. The sensitive spirit is by all means 
to be striven against and conquered. 

It all depends upon what you mean by sensi- 
tiveness. There is a true sensitiveness which 
implies great delicacy of feeling and perception. 
And there is a false sensitiveness which should 
be spelled "selfishness. " What a pity that one 
name should be applied to two qualities so near- 
ly opposite in character. 

There is the "sensitive plant." How it shrinks 
from every rude touch. Just brush its leaves 
carelessly with your hand, and straightway 
they fold themselves close together and droop 
downwards, a touching picture of hurt feelings. 

Society abounds in sensitive plants. They 
grow luxuriantly in the Church. Everywhere 
we find them. They are always on the lookout 
for slights and criticism. They think a great 
deal about their rights and dignities. They may 
44 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

be good workers, but they must be appreciated. 
Their feelings are very tender, and they wear 
them where they will be exposed to the most 
violent shocks. A suspicion of neglect, a word 
ol : opposition or criticism, and they are 
offended. They stop work at once, and will not 
do anything more until they have been flattered 
and cajoled. And even then they generally 
assume the air of martyrs. 

But are they as careful of the feelings of 
others as they expect others to be of their 
feelings ? Very rarely. As a rule, your sensi- 
tive soul is quite careless of the rights and feel- 
ings of others. When you hear one say, "I am 
exceedingly sensitive," you are safe to conclude 
that he is exceedingly selfish. 

True sensitiveness, on the other hand, is that 
delicacy of spirit and quickness of perception 
that makes us very tender in our treatment of 
others. It does not make us more ready to 
take offence ; but it does make us more careful 
about giving offence. It makes us considerate 
of the weaknesses and prejudices and foibles 
of our neighbors. It restrains us from tres- 
passing upon their rights and prerogatives. 

Two men were partners in a country store, 
both of whom liked a joke, but one w r as univers- 
ally popular, while the other was equally un- 
45 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

popular. One day the latter said to the former, 
"Why is it that you can joke with people as 
much as you like, and they never seem to mind 
it; but if I joke them, they always get angry?" 
"That is plain enough," replied the other. 4 T 
always joke people about something that they 
care nothing about; but when you joke a man, 
you select the sorest spot you can find, and 
then hit him as hard as you can right there." 
The first man was sensitive in the proper sense ; 
the second was not. 

Jesus Christ was the most truly sensitive of 
men, yet he never took offence. His own feel- 
ings were entirely consecrated to this work. 
He never "stood on his dignity;" he never 
claimed his rights ; he never fretted because he 
was not appreciated. But how tenderly he 
treated the feelings and rights of others ; 
how patient with Samaritan prejudice; how- 
gentle toward Galilean ignorance and stupidity ; 
how careful at all times to treat even bigorty 
and superstition in such a manner that the 
smallest bud of faith should not be blighted. 

Of such sensitiveness the world can never 
have enough. To quickly perceive that we are 
hurting another's feelings, or that we are touch- 
ing an unwelcome topic ; to avoid all words or 
actions that might make others unhappy ; to 
46 



SPIRITUAL COINS AXD' COUNTERFEITS 

have the faculty of soothing ruffled spirits and 
relieving the friction and jars of life — this is a 
great gift. It is a most Christlv grace. Rut 
he who possesses it will never be heard saying, 
"I am extremelv sensitive.' 1 



47 



XV 
SANCTITY vs. SANCTIMONY 

HE was the holiest man I ever knew. Why, 
I never say him laugh in my life.'' So 
said a Christian minister once regarding a 
friend who had passed away. "Holy because 
he never laughed !" What a notion. More 
likely he had a guilty conscience. There is 
nothing in this world that will take the laugh 
out of a man like conscious sin, and there is 
nothing like genuine holiness to put the laugh 
into a man. True, he may not wear a perpetual 
hyena-grin, but his face will continually glow 
with heavenly joy. 

Yet there are not a few Christians who gauge 
a man's spiritual condition wholly by the length 
o^ his face, and who think dyspeptics the only 
fit subjects for canonization. Where do they 
get this idea? Not from the Bible surely. 
Every picture of sainthood in the whole Bible 
gives the lie to such a theory. 

Take a typical Old Testament saint — David, 
for example. Anything melancholy or dyspep- 
tics about him? Never, except when he fell 
into sin. Watch him on that most profoundly 
religious occasion wher the Ark of the Coven 
48 . 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

ant is being brought up to its permanent home 
in Jerusalem. See him as he leads the great 
procession, dancing and prancing while he sings 
those words of praise, joy the inspiring motive 
Oi his act. Happy as a boy just out of school. 
That was joy, overflowing, irrepressible. It was 
genuine sanctity. Sanctimonious Michal peeps 
through the shutters her chamber window and 
is shocked. But God was not shocked. 

Read the Psalms, those fountains of spiritual 
helpfulness. They are dreadfully unconvention- 
al in their tone and make-up. David shouts. 
"Praise the Lord!" as often as a Methodist in 
camp-meeting. There is nothing sanctimonious 
in the entire book. Yet it has been the inspira- 
tion of truest sainthood for many centuries. 

Xow turn to the Xew Testament and look at 
St. Paul. You couldn't picture him with a long 
face if you tried. The man who could write 
that epistle to the Philippians from amid the 
trials o{ a Roman prison, interjecting "Rejoice 
in the Lord/' a half dozen times in every chap- 
ter, must have been a pretty jubilant sort of a 
saint. He must have had a face that would 
have been attractive even to a wide-awake boy. 

No, no ; sanctity does not imply a long face 
and a solemn demeanor. That is sanctimony. 
True sainthood is just as appropriate to the 
49 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

exuberant vitality of youth as to the quieter 
habits of age. It reveals itself more often in 
smiles and laughter than in sighs and tears. 
It enriches human joy no less than it tempers 
human sorrow. 

Sanctimony is a thin gilding that covers base 
metal. Sanctity is the pure gold of the heaven- 
ly kingdom. And the counterfeit is always 
struggling to usurp the place of the true. 
When sanctity dances and sings before the 
Lord, sanctimony prepares a curtain lecture 
in its chamber. When sanctity shouts "Hosan- 
na !" to the world's Redeemer, sanctimony, hor- 
ror stricken, cries, "Master, rebuke they dis- 
ciples !" And he who is the embodiment of 
perfect sanctity replies : "If these should hold 
their peace, the very stones would cry out." 



so 



VI 
QUALITY vs. QUANTITY 

WE commonly measure our life in terms 
of time and space. Length of years, 
breadth of opportunity, extent of acquirement 
and accumulation, these are standards of value 
for humanity. God measures life in terms of 
purpose and character. With Him spiritual 
w eight and intensity count for more than super- 
ficial extension. A pound of gold occupies far 
less space than a pound of feathers ; but it is 
far more valuable. A noble aim cherished in 
secret by some obscure soul may be of greater 
moral worth than the much lauded achieve- 
ments of a popular hero. A tear dropped in 
silence may embody more of sorrowing love 
than the costly beauty of the Taj Mahal. Or 
a single kind word spoken to disheartened 
young Gough may outweigh in its far-reaching 
spiritual influences the most lavish benevolence 
of ostentatious piety. 

What is the one gift recorded in the Gospels 
and published by the voice of divine inspiration 
through all the Christian centuries? A gift of 
two mites ! The numberless princely offerings 
of the wealthy, the less princely offerings of the 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

devout, have been forgotten in a day. But for 
nearly two thousand years, wherever the word 
of God has gone, the story has been repeated 
of a certain poor widow who cast into the 
treasury of the Lord a single farthing. Why? 
Because, while other men were praising the 
great gifts of those who could give easily, while 
they were estimating the worth of all offerings 
in dollars and cents and admiring all achieve- 
ments and sacrifices according to the measure 
of their outward appearance, Jesus looked at 
the intensity of the gift, the spirit which inspired 
it. He alone said, "They cast in of their abund- 
ance ; but she hath cast in all her living." 

There are some perfumes so condensed that 
when open they will give off their sweet odor 
for months and even years. The hallowed in- 
fluence of the poor widow's gift has not yet 
ceased to be felt. Still, after all the cenutries, 
it is doing its blessed work, bearing consecrated 
interest and stimulating the truest benevolence 
in the Church of God. Trifling in outward ap- 
pearance was that act of devotion, small and 
mean the vial which held the sacred incense ; 
but the drops of heavenly love were marvelous- 
ly concentrated. 

What is the abiding figure of kindly service? 
''A cup of cold water." Jesus coined the phrase, 
52 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

and declared the giving of such a boom a 
worthy badge of discipleship. Sir Philip Sidney, 
taking the refreshing cup from his own parched 
lips, and passing it to another in greater need 
has been canonized the world's gentleman. A 
little thing surely ; but such little things are 
the birthmarks of immortality. 

We sigh for great opportunities. We long 
for large spheres of labor. And because they 
are not granted, we think our lives unavailing. 
All the while God is saying: "Use your little 
opportunities faithfully. Fill your small sphere 
to the utmost. You say your life cannot be 
great? Then make it intense in its littleness. 
Your talents are few? Then make them rich 
with purpose and endeavor." 

Turn the pages of history and note the punct- 
uation marks of greatness. A falling apple re- 
calls to every mind a Newton, the steam of the 
tea-kettle a Watt, the spider's web a Bruce. 
The biographies of earth's truly great show 
conclusively that character and genius and work 
are exhibited most often by mere trifles. Not 
acts far-famed or conspicuous, but some insig- 
nificant occasion or some inadvertant deed be- 
comes the index of essential superiority. Not 
quantity, but quality, determines the value of 
service. 

53 



XVII 
REVIVAL vs. RELIGIOUS BOOM 

Xyl/E are having a great revival in our 
V V church." said an earnest Christian to a 
friend whom he chanced to meet on the cars. 
"The meetings are crowded every night. Scores 
come forward at each altar service. We are^to 
have twenty-five additions to the church next 
Sabbath, and a great many more will doubtless 
follow in the near future. It is a glorious 
work !" 

"Yes," replied his friend, "that is very good 
so far as it goes. But how about the church 
itself? Is there any real awakening of new 
spiritual life among the members ? Is the 
church being lifted to a higher plane of religious 
activity and thought and aspiration ?" 

"Why, yes. The laymen and women are very 
active in the meetings, and they work outside 
to get persons attend. Not only old stand-bys, 
but a good many members who have been 
rather indifferent for years have enlisted heart- 
ily in the present work. They labor with the 
enquirers, they pray and bear testimony in the 
meetings, and they go out upon the streets and 
seek for the wanderers." 
54 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

"I suppose there is a great increase of mis- 
sionary interest among the people. The offer- 
ings for benevolent work are enlarged. There 
is a marked change in the home and business 
and social life of the older Christians. They 
are ready and eager to accept higher ideals and 
more exalted standards. There is a new conse- 
cration of persons and of substance to the work 
of God's kingdom at large. 

"What, you haven't thought of these things? 
The revival is manifesting itself chiefly in the 
effort to bring young people out on the side of 
Christ? Then it is not a revival at all. It is 
only a religious boom. Your church has been 
cold and dead for years ; and it was evident that 
unless something was done the doors would 
soon close. So the managers have done just 
what business men do when trade is at a low 
ebb. They have brought about a boom, the 
chief end of which is to add new members to 
the church, and so to fill its depleted treasury. 
That is why you estimate the success of the 
work by the number of persons about to unite 
with the church. And that is the common 
measure in modern revivals." 

Evangelism is one thing ; a revival is quite 
another thing. Revivals often result in an 
evangelism that brings great numbers of sin- 
55 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

ners to Christ, and a great many undecided ones 
to positive and outspoken allegiance. But the 
two things are entirely distinct. We have much 
evangelism without any revival ; and that is 
one reason why evangelistic effort is so often 
fiuitless. A revival means an awakening of 
new religious life among Christians. And when 
a Christian prays for a revival his first desire 
should be for fresh consecration and a new 
work of grace in himself. The church should 
be more eager for an increase of Christliness 
among those already within its circle than for 
mere additions to its memberships. 

That preacher truly appreciated the meaning 
of a revival who said : "Would that God would 
send us a revival even if it blew my church 
into flinders !" A genuine and universal revival 
of spiritual religion in this land would probably 
blow many a church into flinders ; but it would 
also mean an influx of new life in the kingdom 
of God. It is comparatively easy to arouse a 
church to great activity for the purpose of add- 
ing to its own strength and glory. But to 
bring a church to such a spiritual state that 
it would willingly sacrifice its very existence 
for the advantage of the kingdom is not so 
easy. Yet that only is a true revival that aims 
at the salvation of men and the sanctification 
56 



SPIRITUAL COINS AXD COUNTERFEITS 

of disciples and the building up of the kingdom 
of heaven without so much as a thought of 
adding members to "our church." 



57 



XVIII 
BLESSEDNESS vs. HAPPINESS 

THERE is in man a higher than the 
love of happiness. He can do without 
happiness and instead thereof find blessedness." 
So says a modern sage ; and the saying proves 
him a thinker, clear and incisive ; yes, proves him 
a Christian thinker ; for he is only thinking 
Christ's thought after Him. Jesus said little 
about happiness ; but He talked* much about 
blessedness. The unthinking soul fails to mark 
the distinction, and accepts the counterfeit coin 
even more readily than the genuine. Is not this 
the secret of much spiritual poverty? 

How many disciples believe that to be "shout- 
ing happy" is a token of high spiritual condi- 
tion? How many preachers emphasize happi- 
ness as the great end of piety? A saintly 
woman has even written a book unfolding 
"The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life." 
Doubtless the book has been grandly helpful 
to many an aspiring disciple. It has come as 
a blessed revelation to eager souls. But, after 
all, is not its title a misleading one? Happiness 
is not the goal of religion. Indeed, we have 
not discovered the true Christly ideal till we 
58 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

have put aside all thought of personal happi- 
ness in our zeal for the redemption of men. 
This may not be an easy thing to do; but it is 
the thing we must aim at. And until we are 
willing to subordinate happiness to usefulness 
and righteousness our religion will be a miser- 
able failure. 

Here are a few tests by which we may detect 
the counterfeit and prove the genuine coin. 

Happiness is like a shadow. The faster it is 
pursued, the farther it removes from us. Who 
would overtake it must turn his back and move 
in the opposite direction. He must face the 
sun, and then every step will bring the shadow 
nearer. 

Blessedness is like the reflection of the sun's 
light from a perfect mirror. The brighter the 
light received, the more glorious the reflection 
bestowed upon others. 

The seeker after happiness absorbs the rays 
of divine light, and casts a shadow upon the 
world beneath. He comes to Christ that his 
own soul may be filled with joy; and often he 
i- quite forgetful of the needy lives around 
him. His religion adds nothing to their bright- 
ness. He may even deepen the shadows of their 
minds by his selfish piety. 

But he who has caught the spirit of the Beat- 
itudes will hear and enjoy the truth only to 
59 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

share it with other souls. He will seek the 
deeper spiritual experiences, not for their own 
sake merely, nor for w T hat they can bring to 
himself; but that by means of them he may be 
better fitted to serve the Master and bless his 
fellows. His worship will not be a perpetual 
drinking at the fountain to slake his own 
spiritual thirst. It will be the springing up and 
overflowing from his heart of the well of living- 
water that shall refresh many souls. 

Happiness is variable and uncertain. Some- 
times it is genuine ; often it is false ; always it 
is temporary, limited, incomplete. The happi- 
ness of an hour may be purchased by the pain 
or sorrow or remorse of years. A toy may 
bring happiness to a child ; but w 7 hen the toy 
is broken the happiness is gone. So to the 
children of older growth earth's toys bring a 
passing happiness. Even religion, sought for 
this end, will afford only a transient joy that 
will inevitably be counterbalanced by periods of 
deepened gloom. 

Blessedness, on the other hand, is ever gen- 
unie, perfect, permanent. It is happiness rais- 
ed to the highest degree, happiness freed from 
all dross perchance by fire, happiness made im- 
mortal by the breath of divinity, happiness dis- 
covered by utter self-forgetfulness and devotion 
to the welfare of others. 
60 



XIX 
CROSS vs. CROSSES 

JESUS always used the word "cross" in the 
singular number. He spoke of his own 
cross and of the disciple's cross. He said, 
"Whoever will come after me, ... let him 
take up his cross" (not "crosses.'') A significant 
distinction. 

Very often we may hear a Christian disciple 
speaking about his "crosses," as though each 
one of us were compelled to bear a great many 
in the course of his service. There is the cross 
of speaking for Christ ; there is the cross of 
prayer ; there is the cross of doing this or that. 
And so it goes. Every most trifling service 
rendered, every petty sacrifice made, is labelled 
a cross, till the whole notion becomes quite 
childish and contemptible. Yet some very good 
people do it. 

Xow Jesus himself bore but one cross in the 
whole course of his work, and he does not ask 
more of any disciple. Whoever bears one cross 
lias done his full duty in that direction. But 
bearing the cross as Jesus bore it is a great 
and manly work. It is not the task of an 
hour or a moment ; it is a lifelong struggle and 
61 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

service. It is not some little self-denial here or 
there; it is that completeness of devotion that 
forgets all about self-denial in the joy and 
eagerness of active effort ; it calls forth all the 
strongest elements of human character and life ; 
it appeals to all that is noblest in our manly and 
womanly nature. 

The cross represents all the positive struggle 
of Jesus against the sin and wrong that burden- 
ed the hearts and clouded the lives of his fel- 
lows. It stands not merely for suffering, but 
for achievement, for conquest, for positive con- 
secration. All the meaning, all the purpose of 
108115' life centers about the cross. That is the 
interpretation, the completeness of the rest. 
Calvary is the grandest monument to complete 
devotion the world has even seen. Its story is 
the noblest recorded in history. 

But how it has been caricatured and misrep- 
resented, even to those who have loudly pro- 
claimed its glory ! Men and women have dared 
to compare their little sacrifices with that 
sublime act of the world's Redeemer. They 
have talked of their "crosses" until the word 
has been made ridiculous in the ears of the 
world. Can we wonder that it is so ? 

The zealous Protestant looks with a sort of 
horror mingled with pity upon those who have 
62 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

substituted the crucifix for the cross. To him 
it seems almost profane. Is it not, however, 
the same spirit manifested in a slightly different 
form that finds so many crosses in every Chris- 
tian life? What are these little "crosses," as 
we call them, but a sort of crucifix that we make 
four ourselves, a little object of personal wor- 
ship that comes between us and the cross of 
Christ? 

Infinitely removed from all this child's-play 
is the thought that Jesus presented to his dis- 
ciples. The picture before his mind was that 
of a life wholly given up to the service of God, 
in the rescue of fallen humanity. It was a pic- 
ture of that complete absorption of body and 
mind and soul, that untiring service and effort, 
that industrious and ambitious men put into the 
real business of life, or that pleasure-seekers 
devote to selfish enjoyment. It was an ideal 
that had been fully realized in himself from the 
beginning, and one that w r as worthy of all who 
might enter his service. 

Few phrases are more utterly unworthy the 
good people who use them than this which puts 
the word ''cross" in the plural. Few exhorta- 
tions are more dwarfing and harmful to the 
yonng disciple than this — to "take up his cross" 
and speak in meeting; to "take up his cross" 
^ 63 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

and have prayer in the family, and so on. If the 
disciple be taught to understand by the "denial 
of self" complete self-surrender to the will of 
God, and by "taking up the cross" whole-heart- 
ed devotion to the welfare of his fellows, he 
will take up the little duties and sacrifices as a 
matter of course. There will be no thought 
of drawing back, no possibility of unfaithful- 
ness. The very suggestion of halting and un- 
willingness, the tendency to discover crosses at 
every turn, yes, even the most submissive ex- 
pression of readiness to bear these multitudi- 
nous "crosses," indicates a total failure to grasp 
the largeness of Jesus' thought, "Let him take 
up his cross." 



64 



XX 

SELF-SURRENDER vs. SELF-DENIAL 

SELF-DENIAL is the heathen ideal of piety. 
The denial of self is the Christian ideal. 
Are they not then identical — self denial and the 
denial of self? No, they are no more identical 
than are a horse-chesnut and a chesnut horse. 
Self-denial may be praiseworthy and it may be 
contemptible. It may express devotion and it 
may be the outgrowth of selfishness and super- 
stition. The denial of self, on the other hand, 
is always and everywhere the noblest form of 
intelligent consecration. It is the climax of 
spiritual attainment. Denial of self is the un- 
questioned token of citizenship in the kingdom 
of heaven. Self-denial is the borrowed cloak 
in which pretenders to citizenship often mas- 
querade. 

In common use the phrase "self-denial" sig- 
nifies some form of personal sacrifice, the giv- 
ing up of some comfort or pleasure or indul- 
gence, the endurance of privation or suffering. 
It implies something of difficulty or pain. And 
it is noble or trifling, praiseworthy or sinful, ac- 
cording to the motive which inspires it and the 
end for which it is practised. 
65 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

The denial of self, as Jesus used the phrase, 
implies complete and unconditional self-surren- 
der to the service of the Master, to the cause 
of truth and righteousness, to the work of 
redeeming the world. It is not the giving up 
of one pleasure here and another there, the 
occasional sacrifice of some cherished plan or 
desire, the rare putting forth of disinterested 
effort. It is laying the whole life upon God's 
altar — all pleasures and ambition, all plans and 
desires, all powers for service ; to be used or 
to be held in disuse, to be fulfilled or to be curb- 
ed, to be developed or to be changed, as he shall 
see fit. Above all things, it is the submission 
of the personal will to the will of the Highest. 

The rash vow of Jephthah, with its equally 
rash fulfillment, illustrates the spirit ' of . self- 
denial, and shows how the most sublime cour- 
age and honor and devotion may become utterly 
trifling, yea, may be worse than wasted by a 
superstitious perversion. 

In contrast with this spirit place that of John 
the Baptist. When certain busybodies thought 
to arouse his jealousy by reporting the growth 
of Jesus' popularity, he replied, "This my joy 
therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but 
I must decrease." There is the denial of self. 
There is the spirit of the true Christian. A 
66 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

soul rejoicing in its own eclipse. Self wholly 
absorbed, wholly lost to view in the desire for 
the Master's glory. 

And this complete self-surrender to the will 
of God is the aim of all true discipleship. With- 
out it there can be no real spiritual growth. 
no worthy achievement in the service of Christ. 
lie who would follow Jesus must deny himself. 
Vet how infrequent and how difficult is such 
complete self-surrender even among those call- 
ing themselves Christians ! 

Always and everywhere men are ready to 
practice all manner of self-denial, and to delude 
themselves with the notion that this is religion, 
the highest form of saintliness, the one key that 
can unlock the gate of heaven. The idea is the 
very essence of heathenism. The Hindoo 
mother casts her babe into the Ganges, not be- 
cause she is wanting in mother-love, but be- 
cause she thinks by this heart rending sacrifice 
to win the favor of God for herself and her 
child. She believes that the Deity is pleased 
with the sufferings and privations of his chil- 
dren. For the same reason other devotees suf- 
fer themselves to be swung in the air by 
hooks thrust into their flesh, and others cast 
themselves in the way to be crushed and maimed 
by the car of Juggernaut. But in all this there 
67 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

is no denial of self, no surrender of the life 
to righteousness and truth, no thought of curb- 
ing appetite or passion or self-will. Even the 
great self-renunciation of Siddhartha, the 
founder of Buddhism, was but a system of self- 
denial on a grand scale. 

The Christianity of the middle ages was bur- 
dened with this same notion. The old time 
monks and anchorites fasted and inflicted upon 
themselves a rigorous discipline in the vain 
hope either of developing genuine spirituality or 
of pleasing God by their self-denial. But what 
did most of them know of real self-surrender, 
the denial of self? Never was a man more 
noted for his acts of discipline, for his abste- 
mious life, his fastings, his pennance, his labors, 
in short for self-denial, than St. Dunstan. Yet 
few men have surpassed him in arrogance and 
self-assertion. He never denied self in the true 
sense. He was the spirit of an unconquered 
tyi^nt rather than of a humble disciple of 
Christ. And so with hundreds and thousands 
of others. Delighting in sacrifices and prescrib- 
ed self-denial, their proud spirits never sub- 
mitted to the will of God. Their strong wills 
never yielded to that of the divine Master. 
Self never really gave way and suffered com- 
plete eclipse through denial. 
68 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

Xor has modern Christianity wholly shaken 
off the old idea. The counterfeit coin is per- 
sistent in forcing its way into circulation and 
supplanting the pure gold of the kingdom. 
They are not few to-day who imagine that sac- 
rifice and privation are in themselves meritor- 
ious and pleasing to % God, and who confuse self- 
denial with that complete and uncompromising 
denial of self which alone is consistent with in- 
telligent piety and conducive to spiritual 
growth. 

Now it is unquestionably true that in every 
genuine Christian life there will be much self- 
denial. It cannot be otherwise. The life that 
knows nothing of self-denial can know nothing 
of the true spirit of the Christ. In every pos- 
sible relation in life there are countless oppor- 
tunities for the display of this grace, or rather 
for the exercise of this privilege. In the home 
liie, and in our relations with those nearest 
us, every day should witness many illustrations 
of this spirit. And it should enter into every 
department of life with its sweet and hallowing 
influence. 

But these things should not be our Christian- 
ity, our entire service. Rather should they be 
over and above our ordinary service. They 
should be the expression of our highest love 
5q 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

and gratitude. As the ancient Hebrews had a 
prescribed ritual of service that was incum- 
bent upon every man as a member of the con- 
gregation, and permitted free-will offerings in 
addition as expressions of personal gratitude 
and devotion, so the first and unqualified re- 
quirement of every disciple is complete self-sur- 
render, and after that such self-denial as his 
heart may prompt and his circumstances per- 
mit. But we must never forget that the sole 
test of piety is not the self-denial, but the self- 
surrender, the denial of self. 



70 



XXI 

CONFESSION vs. PROFESSION 

ONCE a disciple was known as a confessor. 
To-day he is called a professor. In all 
religious circles one may often hear the phrases, 
"professing Christian," and "making a profes- 
sion of religion." To a great degree these ex- 
pressions have supplanted the phrase and the 
idea of "confessing Christ." 

What is a "professing Christian?" He is a 
specimen of religious biped utterly ignored by 
Christ and his apostles in the formation of the 
early church. He is no benefit to the church 
today. The fewer we have of them the better. 
What is it to "make a profession of religion?" 
Any attempt to define the phrase would result in 
absurdity. Profession has nothing to do with 
true Christianity. We want not profession but 
confession. 

Doubtless these phrases will cling to the 
church, and will be used by us all again and 
again ; but they are none the less misleading 
and false. Confession is a Christian duty. Pro- 
fession is no part of duty; on the contrary, it 
is dangerously near to a sin. If testifying for 
Christ or uniting with the church really im- 
7i 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

plied "making a profession," they are by all 
means to be avoided, and without ceasing 
preached against, instead of being enjoined up- 
on all. 

Who has not heard, times without number, 
this demand for profession of one sort or an- 
other ? Have you received any blessing from 
Go ! ? Straightway you are urged to profess 
something about it. Not a few zealous preach- 
ears say to seekers after God, "If you have 
been born from above and believe that you 
have received the new life, you must profess it, 
or you will lose it." And many an aspiring soul 
has been informed that the only way to obtain 
and retain sanctification is to profess sanctifica- 
tion. 

How utterly opposed is this idea to the teach- 
ings of the Master and his apostles ! Not only 
is there no command in the New Testament 
tc profess regeneration, sanctification, or any 
other spiritual attainment, but there are many 
warnings against such a course. Jesus tells us 
o r " two persons who went up to the temple to 
pray. One stood by himself and prayed thus — 
''God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest 
of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even 
as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I 
give tithes of all that I get." There is a model 
72 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

profession for you. "Oh !" you say, "he was 
a hypocrite." No, there is no ground for such 
an assertion. By all the laws of reason and 
justice we are bound to believe that the man 
told the truth. There is no hint that it was 
otherwise. And he must be a pretty good man 
who can say all that honestly. He was a good 
neighbor, a good citizen, a good churchman. 
The modern church member who can show as 
good a record stands far above the average 
Christian. Yes, the Pharisee made a remark- 
ably good profession ; but what good did it do? 
Neither himself nor his neighbors were any bet- 
ter for his boasting. He derived no benefit 
iiom his worship. 

Now listen to the other man. He makes a 
confession. "God be merciful to me, a sinner." 
and a great load is lifted from his heart. He 
went home justified. The professor failed to 
obtain recognition. The confessor received a 
rich blessing. So, always, the profession of any 
Christian grace or experience, so far from en- 
hancing that grace or giving permanence to our 
spiritual experience, is almost sure to harden 
the heart until it becomes impervious to the 
influence of the divine Spirit. 

In the whole course of the Christian life we 
are not called upon to profess anything regard- 
73 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

ing our own spiritual condition or progress. 
The notion of "professing religion'' has led 
many a disciple astray and, worse than all, it has 
proved a serious stumbling block in the path 
of not a few who might otherwise become con- 
fessors of Christ. Thoughtful and intelligent 
men hold back from the church because mem- 
bership is presented as "making a profession." 
But does not one who unites with the church 
or who testifies for Christ, necessarily profess 
something, at least by implication, regarding 
himself? Does he not tacitly claim spiritual 
attainment, and declare himself in some way 
better than others who have not done so? Not 
by any means. Whoever comes into the church 
with such an idea of the significance of the 
act will utterly vitiate an otherwise Christian 
act, and render it powerless for good to himself 
or others. Rightly understood, uniting with 
the church is a simple expression of allegiance 
to Christ. So far as it goes, it is the confes- 
sion of Christ before men. It is an acknowledg- 
ment of weakness and need, rather than the pro- 
fession of power. The disciple of Jesus joins 
the church, not because he has reached a certain 
high religious plane, not because he is better 
than those outside of the church, not even be- 
cause he is better than he has been at some 
74 



SPIRITUAL COINS AND COUNTERFEITS 

time in the past — but in order that he may the 
better do the Master's work, and in order that 
he may have the help of other Christians in the 
development of his own character. The newly 
enlisted recruit does not profess to be a brave 
and experienced soldier. He enlists that he 
may learn to be a soldier. So the disciple joins 
the Church that he may learn to be a soldier 
in the army of the Lord. 

The true church member is, therefore, a con- 
fessing* Christian, not a professing Christian. 
The word "profession" is a counterfeit that has 
crept into the vocabulary of the Christian 
Church where it has no legitimate place. It 
ought to be rejected by all intelligent Christians. 
It ought to be banished into outer darkness. 
We do not want professors. We want confes- 
sors. A professing Church repels thoughtful 
men. A confessing- Church wins them. 



75 



JUL 2 1908 






J 



9 

f 



